Dopiaza means 'onions twice' (from Hindi do ‘two’ + pyāz ‘onion’). There are many different versions of this dish with varying amounts of onion. The thing I like about dopiaza is that the second layer of onions adds a sweetness and texture to the base sauce. Its generally a medium hot dish when served in restaurants but there is nothing to stop you adjusting the level of chilli to suit.
Ingredients (serves 2)
1 tbsp oil
½ a large white onion, finely chopped
2 fat cloves of garlic, grated
1 tbsp ginger paste or grated ginger
1 x 400g tin of chopped or crushed tomatoes (280g minus the tin)
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp coriander seeds
½ fenugreek seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
340g chicken breast (2 breasts)
2 small red onions
2 mild green chillies
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
Coriander leaves to garnish (optional)
Method
Ingredients (serves 2)
1 tbsp oil
½ a large white onion, finely chopped
2 fat cloves of garlic, grated
1 tbsp ginger paste or grated ginger
1 x 400g tin of chopped or crushed tomatoes (280g minus the tin)
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp coriander seeds
½ fenugreek seeds
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp Kashmiri chilli (or to taste)
1 tsp salt
340g chicken breast (2 breasts)
2 small red onions
2 mild green chillies
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
Coriander leaves to garnish (optional)
Method
- Sauté the chopped onion in the oil until it caramelised.
- Add the garlic and ginger and cook for a few minutes.
- Add the spices, tomatoes, salt and water and mix well.
- Bring to simmering point and cook the sauce for 15 minutes adding more water if it reduces too much. Purée the sauce (I use a stick blender)
- Chop the chicken into large pieces and add the the sauce. Bring to a simmer and cook for a further 25 minutes.
- Whilst the chicken is cooking, peel the red onions leaving the root trimmed but intact. Slice each onion in half then into quarters and/or eighths, depending on size. Slice the green chillies in half, lengthways
- Heat the oil In a separate pan and gently fry the onion and chillies until tender.
- Before serving, turn up the heat and add the mustard seeds to the onion and chilli. Fry for a few seconds.
- If you wish you can now mix all the onion and green chillies into the chicken and sauce. I like to reserve some to layer on top, like a classic ‘tarka'.
Last edited:
